COVID-19-Related Psychosocial Care in General Hospitals: Results of an Online Survey of Psychosomatic, Psychiatric, and Psychological Consultation and Liaison Services in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

Abstract

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was accompanied by new challenges for psychosocial health care to enable the support of affected patients, their families, and staff in general hospitals. In this study, we aimed to describe the structures and procedures put in place by psychosomatic, psychiatric, and psychological consultation and liaison (CL) services in German, Austrian, and Swiss general hospitals, and to elucidate the emerging needs for cooperation, networking, and improvement.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional online survey between December 2020 and May 2021, using a 25-item questionnaire derived from relevant literature, professional experience, and consultation with the participating professional societies. The survey was disseminated via national professional societies, relevant working and interest groups, and heads of the above-mentioned CL services.ResultsWe included responses from 98 CL services in the analyses, with a total response rate of 55% of surveyed hospital CL services; 52 responses originated from Germany, 20 from Austria, and 26 from Switzerland. A total of 77 (79%) of the 98 responding CL services reported that “COVID-19-related psychosocial care” (COVID-psyCare) was provided in their hospital. Among these, 47 CL services (61%) indicated that specific cooperation structures for COVID-psyCare had been established within the hospital. A total of 26 CL services (34%) reported providing specific COVID-psyCare for patients, 19 (25%) for relatives, and 46 (60%) for staff, with 61, 12, and 27% of time resources invested for these target groups, respectively. Regarding emerging needs, 37 (48%) CL services expressed wishes for mutual exchange and support regarding COVID-psyCare, and 39 (51%) suggested future changes or improvements that they considered essential.ConclusionMore than three-quarters of the participating CL services provided COVID-psyCare for patients, their relatives, or staff. The high prevalence of COVID-psyCare services targeting hospital staff emphasizes the liaison function of CL services and indicates the increased psychosocial strain on health care personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future development of COVID-psyCare warrants intensified intra- and interinstitutional exchange and support.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04753242, version 11 February 2021.

Psychological Distress among Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in Denmark during the First 12 Months of the Pandemic

“…Patients with an ethnic minority background and patients experiencing psychological distress at the time of admission may be particularly vulnerable to negative long-term psychological effects of COVID-19 [ 54 ]. The provision of staff guidelines for COVID-19 patients, e.g., protocols for screening for symptoms of anxiety, may help healthcare professionals identify and support patients who experience psychological distress during admission [ 55 ]. Ongoing and future studies will hopefully provide more robust knowledge about validated psychological support interventions that may be suitable for implementation during and following a hospitalization with COVID-19-related illness.…”

Physician resilience and perceived quality of care among medical doctors with training in psychosomatic medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic: a quantitative and qualitative analysis

“…Resilience is the ability of an individual to respond to stress and adversity in an adaptive way such that goals are achieved at minimal psychological and physical costs and mental well-being rapidly ”bounces back” [ 1 ]. As resilience can counteract negative effects of workplace stress, the concept of physician resilience has emerged in response to high prevalence rates of physician burnout and physician stress [ 2 – 4 ], which seem to have substantially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 5 – 7 ].…”

Physician resilience and perceived quality of care among medical doctors with training in psychosomatic medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic: a quantitative and qualitative analysis

“…Resilience is the ability of an individual to respond to stress and adversity in an adaptive way such that goals are achieved at minimal psychological and physical costs and mental well-being rapidly "bounces back" [1]. As resilience can counteract negative effects of workplace stress, the concept of physician resilience has emerged in response to high prevalence rates of physician burnout and physician stress [2][3][4], which seem to have substantially increased during the COVID-19 pandemic [5][6][7].…”

“…during the COVID-19 pandemic[6,7]. More speci cally, we looked at whether and, if so, to what extent resilience and postgraduate training in psychosomatic medicine in Austria were related to perceived quality of care and to further indicators of health care quality, i.e., professional autonomy, adequate time for patient care, and job satisfaction.We found that both resilience and training level in psychosomatic medicine separately predicted perceived quality of delivered care when controlling for age, gender, number of patients, treatment of COVID-19 patients, own health concerns, nancial strains, as well as training and resilience as control variables.…”